The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Belarus-Poland crisis: human rights of trapped migrants are paramount, says UN
Amid growing concerns about the plight of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at the Poland-Belarus border, UN agencies on Friday urged all parties to respect their human rights and to refrain from using them for political ends.
The development follows news footage earlier in the week showing migrants located between the countries, attempting to dodge teargas to make their way through razor wire, following weeks of rising tension.
“It is a terrible situation, we are seeing people in terrible circumstances, in the bitter cold, even reports that people have died,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “And that’s why it is really so important. This is why the High Commissioner has spoken out and other UN agencies have spoken out really clearly about this. The human rights of migrants and refugees have to come first. It is really important they must be respected under international human rights refugee law, but as for the political dimension to this, I would leave that to others to address that.”
Echoing that message, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists in Geneva that the human rights and the safety of refugees and migrants were “paramount…we do believe that we have said it many times that refugees and asylum seekers and migrants to achieve political ends is unacceptable and must stop and that is completely deplorable.”
The border became a flashpoint after the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus on the basis of alleged grave human rights violations there, and the diversion of a commercial flight between two EU nations by Belarus in May, in order to remove a leading dissident, according to news reports.
In recent weeks, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet also expressed concern at “persistent allegations” of “widespread and systematic torture of protesters” in Belarus, following the crackdown on protests at the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in August last year.
Highlighting that the human rights of the migrants and refugees should be fully respected “regardless of their nationality, status or circumstance”, Ms. Throssell added that the “strong security focus and politically charged responses on both sides - and that includes the increased deployment of troops and accompanying inflammatory rhetoric - they only exacerbate the vulnerability and risks that migrants and refugees face.”
Responding to questions over unconfirmed reports that migrants have been subjected to mock executions by soldiers, Ms. Throssell noted that OHCHR was following developments “very closely…we do not have access there, so the reports that you’ve been hearing, we are not in a position to confirm them”.
ends
STORY: Belarus-Poland Crisis – OHCHR, UNHCR
TRT: 2 mins 11s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 November 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot, United Nations flags flying.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “It is a terrible situation, we are seeing people in terrible circumstances, in the bitter cold, even reports that people have died. And that’s why it is really so important. This is why the High Commissioner has spoken out and other UN agencies have spoken out really clearly about this. The human rights of migrants and refugees have to come first. It is really important they must be respected under international human rights refugee law, but as for the political dimension to this, I would leave that to others to address that.”
- Medium shot, inside the press conference room, showing speakers and participants, large-screen TV showing the press briefing being broadcast on Zoom.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): “The human rights and the safety of refugees and migrants are paramount and we do believe that we have said it many times that refugees and asylum seekers and migrants to achieve political ends is unacceptable and must stop and that is completely deplorable.”
- Medium shot, journalists attending the meeting and speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We do underscore though that the human rights of people who are along the border should be of paramount concern; we have expressed - and the High Commissioner has stressed in her comments - that the strong security focus and politically charged responses on both sides, and that includes the increased deployment of troops and accompanying inflammatory rhetoric, they only exacerbate the vulnerability and risks that migrants and refugees face.”
- Close shot, a journalist seated and masked listening to the press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The human rights of these people, the human rights of these migrants and refugees, and that’s regardless of their nationality, status or circumstance, they must be fully respected under international human rights and refugee law.”
- Medium-shot, journalists seated and masked taking notes, a TV screen in the background showing two speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English): Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Although we are following developments very closely, we do not have a presence there, we do not have access there, so the reports that you’ve been hearing, we are not in a position to confirm them.”
- Medium shot, participants listening to moderator, while a technician supervises the briefing on Zoom.
- Close shot, journalists taking notes of the briefing.
- Close shot, participants taking notes.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Gaza: Hospitals continue to overflow with people injured while seeking food - WHO
As besieged Palestinian civilians face widespread malnutrition and starvation, hospitals in the Strip are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of victims of shootings and other injuries at food distribution areas, warns the World Health Organization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , WHO , UNMAS
Urgent help is needed to halt a deadly cholera outbreak that is sweeping across Sudan, UN agencies said on Friday, while warning that communities continue to be terrorized by parties to the conflict even as they flee violence.
2
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News , Images | UNEP
Negotiations got under way at UN Geneva on Tuesday to agree on a legally binding treaty to curb plastic pollution, with delegates from nearly 180 countries attending.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: Hundreds of trucks per day of free aid needed “for months”, in addition to commercial supplies - OCHA
Despite the tactical pauses Israel introduced last week to allow some safe passage for humanitarian convoys, the amount of aid that has entered Gaza remains by far insufficient for the starving population, and UN trucks continue to face impediments on their way to delivering aid.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
Aid agencies echoed wider warnings of growing signs of widespread starvation in Gaza on Tuesday, as UN-partnered international food security experts released their most dire assessment yet of the situation in the wartorn enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNDP , UNHCR
Sudan: urgent help needed as more than 1.3 million war-displaced people begin to return home
As conflict rages on across parts of Sudan, pockets of relative safety have emerged in the past four month, spurring more than one million internally displaced Sudanese to make their way home, says the International Organization for Migration (IOM). A further 320,000 cross-border refugees have come back to Sudan since last year, mainly from Egypt and South Sudan, to assess the current situation before deciding to return to their country for good.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: SOS messages describe people fainting from hunger; UN health worker detained
Worrying alerts from United Nations staff in Gaza who have been fainting from hunger and exhaustion over the past 48 hours have increased fears for people’s survival in the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , UNOG
Over 11.6 million refugees risk losing aid access due to funding cuts, says UNHCR
Approximately one in three refugees and other vulnerable individuals normally supported by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) are expected to lose out from funding cuts, it said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Ravina Shamdasani, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following announcement on the Office’s opening of a new mission in Bangladesh.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
“The surge in the number of Afghans forced or compelled to return to Afghanistan this year is creating a multi-layered human rights crisis requiring the urgent attention of the international community,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday called for accountability and justice for the killings and other gross human rights violations and abuses in the southern city of Suweida.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Syria: hundreds killed in Sweida, ‘widespread’ violations as civilians flee for their lives
Amid violent clashes in southern Syria’s Sweida governorate, a picture of grave human rights abuses and rising humanitarian needs is emerging by the hour, the UN said on Friday.